Saying Goodbye

As my move to Toronto draws closer my apartment descends deeper and deeper into chaos. I sleep on the floor surrounded by books, unpaid bills and the crumbs of last night's drunken snacking and feel like I'm already gone. My giant bag of packing peanuts is now the largest piece of furniture I own (it sort of looks like a bean bag chair) and if it wouldn't make such a horrible mess I'd be rolling in those little nuggets of styrofoam joy and laughing like a maniac.

I realize that I'm not leaving the country or anything drastic like that but when I think of the distance involved, a whopping 3354.71 km, whether it's the same country or not, I'm moving to a whole other planet. No more cheap and tasty sushi, no more pristine unpolluted air, no more mountains. No more Stanley Park (or whatever it's called) and its abundance of wildlife like these two baby otters I spotted on Sunday. No more intravenous drug users selling their skinny bodies by the drive through Starbucks on Powell. No Ed Hardy wearing yahoos fighting over who is more "street" while Granville's weekend circus caterwauls around them. No more 'Symphony of Fire', no more Grouse Grind, no more (short lived) Canucks playoff fever where for a week or two we hope against hope that this year we have a goalie who won't choke when it's 'go' time.

No more dried prawns and funky herbal medicines wrecking havoc on my hangover tummy as I stumble through Chinatown, no more marveling at the library's high atrium, no more pot rallies at the art gallery, no more laughter on sea side patios, no more frolicking at Wreck Beach applauding the sun set, no more sun dipping into the sea as she makes her glorious exit, no more Lyons standing regal in the sky.

The distance between London, England and Moscow, Russia is only 2498.32 km. I am going far away and things are going to be different there. If I said I was cool with all this I'd be lying.

In my heart I know everything is going to be fine and very soon the excitement which comes with the promise of a fresh adventure will make the separation easier. But right now before all the hurry and the newness overwhelms me I'm going to let myself be a little bit sad for what I'm leaving behind.

So it's goodbye to my trusty and heavily stained loveseat and goodbye to Vancouver, my love.